Jan 6: Malgin has cleared and can continue to play in Switzerland.
Jan 5: The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed another depth forward on waivers. Denis Malgin has hit the wire as he continues to play in Switzerland for Lausanne. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said he would not interrupt that season for a player who was not guaranteed a roster spot, so Malgin will finish the year in the NLA before returning to North America. To do that, he needed to be waived at some point.
Still, Malgin is an interesting candidate to be claimed if some team wants to throw a wrench in the Maple Leafs’ plans. The 23-year-old forward actually has 192 games of NHL experience and scored 22 points in 51 games with the Florida Panthers in 2017-18. Malgin signed a new one-year, one-way $700K contract with the Maple Leafs in October but was still pushed down the depth chart by several free agent additions.
For now, should he clear he will continue to play for Lausanne, where he has 22 points in 19 games. The undersized forward is a candidate to join the Maple Leafs later on after his season ends, giving them some additional depth down the stretch.
One more example of Dubas’ mismanagement of the minors and general poor decision making. He traded Mason Marchment, another young, gritty, bottom six with potential, for the diminutive Malgin, who is now exposed to the rest of the league, because Dubas doesn’t want to interrupt his international season. He has dismantled the AHL depth and pipeline of prospects built up by Lou and Hunter just to stay afloat.
Says the guy with zero NHL management experience
So, if a waiter dumps your food on your lap and stabs you in the neck with the fork…you are only allowed to comment on the service if you’ve waited tables before…?
What are the odds Malgin passes through? The Hawks are depleted and rebuilding. If I’m Stan Bowman, I’m salivating at the chance of acquiring Malgin right now on a league-minimum contract.
There will be better players to poach as rosters begin to get trimmed.